Harmonism, Novelty, and the Sacred in the Teachings of Rav Kook (1994)

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Lecture Notes - Rav Hirsch and Rav Kook (1963)

SRH: J. Humanism – ישראל מענטש תורה עם ד"א. – Torah primary; but original identity human: crit: Maim, Mendellsohn; autochtonous – but if identity: not conflict, but so biology – Synth: pleasant... congruous; Orth not blind. K: Not ת' עם ד"א but ת' וד"א – (strawberries – woman with child). – come to grips each other. – metaphys frame – קו"ח → "enlightened". – centripital + centrifugal. – synth: not lock in T; but needs חידוש. – קו"ח = matter/form; יסוד קה"ק/ – no חול מוחלט – "not-yet holy". – no הבדלה? – של"ה...

Torah Umadda

Rav Hirsch and Rav Kook: Two Views on Limudei Kodesh and Limudei Chol (1966)

Carmi Y. Horowitz, Menachem M. Kasdan, Editors; Simon Posner, Associate Editor; Authur B. Levenglick, Copy Editor; Michael Joshua, Nosan Mikroy, Staff; Student Organization of Yeshiva: Gary Feder, President; George Finkelstein, Vice‑President; Eugene Kwalwasser, Secretary‑Treasurer; Norman Lamm. At Yeshiva College the student is confronted with both limudei kodesh and limudei chol. Rabbi Norman Lamm, Associate Rabbi of The Jewish Center and visiting assistant professor of Jewish philosophy at Yeshiva University, examines the views of Rav S. R. Hirsch and Rav A. I. Kook on the encounter between Torah and Hochma, Kodesh and Hol. RAV HIRSCH AND RAV KOOK: TWO VIEWS ON LIMUDEI KODESH AND LIMUDEI CHOL – From the very beginning of Jewish history Judaism has, for better or for worse, experienced some interaction with its surrounding culture. A great part of the Bible is a warning, both explicit and implicit, against assimilating the cultic pagan practices. However, with the rise of Greek philosophy and the prominence given to reason and a more sophisticated culture, some Jews began to expose themselves to the non‑Jewish modes of thought and fall under their influence. Gradually, individual thinkers, such as Philo in Alexandria, and later, as in the "Golden Age" in Spain, whole schools concerned themselves with the direct confrontation of traditional Judaism and Western thought. With the Emancipation, this confrontation was no longer confined to a few individuals or even schools. The interaction between Judaism and the culture of the host people was now of major import to the Jewish community as a whole. The variety of responses to this massive challenge of Western civilization is represented by the spectrum of Jewish allegiances extant even today. They range from a complete abandonment of Judaism and Jewish loyalties to an utter and complete rejection of Western philosophical and scientific ideas. In‑between there exists a graduated fragmentation – a kind of Maxwellian di…

Torah Umadda